Ticked Off [Boku No Hero Academia]

ALTERNATE TAKES: USJ & ESCAPE

Alternate versions of the USJ and Izuku's escape from the villains' base!!

~

Izuku crouched by the water's edge with his classmates. They were keeping themselves small and quiet, so as not to accidentally garner unwanted attention from the multitudes of villains in the plaza. Aizawa was doing an impressive job at handling them, twisting with the grace of a gymnast and fighting with the strength of All Might. It was clear he was starting to struggle, with his chest heaving as he tried to catch his breath, constantly on alert and never letting the villains catch him by surprise, even as the intervals between his blinks became shorter and shorter. Shigaraki rushed towards him, catching the teacher's elbow and disintegrating it down to the muscles before Aizawa was able to pull away, his arm hanging limply by his side.

The villain turned to the great, hulking beast that stood nearby, muttering an order that made Izuku's blood run cold. Before he could even register what he was doing, green lightning flashed across his form and he was halfway across the plaza in a blink, throwing out his arms and launching himself forwards. He tackled the Noumu with all the strength he dared, fueled by desperation to keep his teacher from getting crushed once more, because he still sometimes had nightmares about the USJ incident, and he didn't need to relive them. They landed heavily and the Noumu seemed confused that its order had been countered, lying in the dust with bulging eyes swivelling blindly.

"Midoriya, what are you doing?!" Aizawa's voice was vaguely stressed. "Get away from that thing!"

"Another NPC getting in the way... so annoying, so annoying..." Shigaraki snarled, his nails tearing down along his neck. "A stupid kid thinking he can play hero..."

Izuku bared his teeth in a smile that teetered between emboldening and terrifying, before rolling off the creature and standing in front of it in a fighting stance perfected over the years. "Sensei, do me a favour... Could you erase the Noumu's Quirks so I can beat it?"

"I'm not- you're a child, Midoriya. I'm not letting you fight that. It's not your job!" The teacher snapped, rapid footsteps against the ground implying his approach.

"...right," Izuku hesitated, staring down at the prone monster with narrowed eyes. "But I'm also the only one currently here who can take this thing out."

"So cocky. You think you can beat the final boss? Noumu was made to kill All Might – a low level like you doesn't stand a chance," Shigaraki's voice was low and dangerous, and a crazed chuckle spilled over his lips from behind the pale hand concealing his face. "Stupid. Heroes are so stupid. Noumu, kill that kid."

Aizawa said something panicked, but Izuku's focus was locked onto the creature as it jolted back to its feet, throwing forwards a bulky fist that the boy met halfway. The impact of two powers colliding sent out a wave of dust around them and caused a painful twinge in the student's shoulder, but there was no time to contemplate it as he was forced to duck under another swipe, dancing between jabs and flashing over the Noumu. It may have been worryingly fast, but he was marginally faster, and had a lot more tricks and techniques up his sleeve to keep himself from getting hit.

"Mido-"

"Please, erase his Quirks, sensei – preferably before I'm pummelled into the ground," Izuku ordered breathlessly, darting behind the Noumu and getting a glimpse of his teacher's worried face.

The man had one hand clasped around his capture gear, clearly ready to scoop up the kid and deposit him far out of the danger zone, but they were moving too quickly. His expression grew conflicted but he finally gave in after a particularly close call, his dark hair lifting off his shoulders and his eyes glinting a dangerous red behind his goggles. Izuku beamed at him in thanks before flipping over a large arm, landing on his palms and springboarding off the ground so he was in front of the Noumu once more, already powering up his Quirk as he drew back his arm. He couldn't punch too hard because he'd still end up hurting himself, but he needed to punch hard enough to render the Noumu immobile.